How to Start Using ASL With Your Toddler During Daily Routine

Vielka Montout
Feb 22
2 min read

Your toddler is crying. You know they need something. They know what they want. Neither of you has the words yet. This is the moment where early signs change everything.

Early access to language supports brain development, emotional regulation, and later literacy. For Deaf and Hard of Hearing children, visual language is not a support. It is access. For hearing children, signing reduces frustration and increases communication before speech is fully developed.

When children can express more, eat, help, stop, and love, their behavior changes because their communication changes.

Language first. Behavior follows.

WHAT THIS LOOKS LIKE IN REAL LIFE

You do not need to be fluent to begin.

Start here:

Sign during meals: more, eat, drink, all done
Sign during play: play, help, stop, again
Sign during transitions: wait, finished, clean up
Sign during connection moments: love, happy

Say the word. Make the sign. Repeat it every time.

Consistency builds understanding.

TRY THIS TODAY: THE MEALTIME ROUTINE

At your next meal:

Hold up the food and sign eat
Wait 5 seconds
Model more before giving another bite
Celebrate any attempt your child makes to copy you

This turns a daily routine into a language-rich moment.

Download the Simple Signs Starter Guide to begin using ASL at home or in your classroom today.

In Little Signs, Big Smiles, each page follows the same pattern children experience in real life. A familiar routine. A meaningful sign. A joyful interaction. Families and teachers use this book as a daily language tool, not just a story.